Dead Poets Society, written by Robin Williams, is a book about 5 tanagers trying to find their own dreams in a place where they are forced to follow rules nd be pressured. Each find their own ways to stand out, and with the help of Mr. Keating, learn that the best way to describe their feelings in with poetry that they can share in the club. The book is here to show us that we should stand up for our dreams until the end, and to never give up. I give this book a 4 out 5 because first, I fell in love with many of the characters and was able to relate to them. Second, it has a great theme which a lot of us can relate to, and third (which is the downside) it was a bit slow in the beginning of the story, and I only founded interesting after Neil's death.
We start off by getting introduced to Welton Academy, a school were kids are pushed to their limits, but are not able to be free thinkers. We also meet out characters Neil, Cameron, Todd, Knox and Charlie who have very different backstories. Neil and Todd end up being roommates, and we get to learn more about their personalities. Todd being a shy and no so enthusiastic guy, while Neil is an extrovert who loves to help others. The guys for a study group and tell Todd that he can join too, but Todd declines and says he will work on his own. The guys study and meet Mr. Keating, their English teacher. He comes off as weird at first, mentioning his love for words and poems, but the guys are always deeply touched by Mr. Keating's words, and always take their time to get the meaning of every class. One day, Knox gets invited to a dinner at the Danburry family, where he meets Chris, Chet's (the son of Mr. Danburry) girlfriend. He falls completely in love with her, and is now up to the task to get her love. Todd and Neil start getting closer to each other, while Neil helps him get more confident on himself. We learn that Todd is this way because Todd's older brother is the person Todd's parents love, which leaves Todd all by himself.
Eventually, Neil finds an old Senior annual from the school, and they notice that Mr. Keating was part of a club called Dead Poets Society. After asking Mr. Keating what it was, the guys meet up in a cave (where the old club would meet) and start reading old poems to each other. They keep meeting in this place everyday, and read more poems which open their eyes to their dreams.
Neil admits that his dream is acting, and when the opportunity of being in a play appears, he joins immediately without his parent's permission (because they want him to be a doctor). Knox can't stop thinking about Chris, and gets invite by Chris to a party, where he gets heartbroken after seeing Chris and Chet together, and Chet punching Knox in the face. This does not stop Knox at all, and he finally confesses his love for Chris in a poem. Neil joins that play and act. And the rest of the group support Neil in his dream. But, Neil's parent's find out, and take Neil out of the school to their home. They tell Neil that he will be joining military school and that he will become a doctor no matter what. This pressure leads Neil into killing himself in the home.
Everyone is devastated, specially Todd after losing his friend, and Neil death is pointed at Mr. Keating's fault because they all believe Neil was influenced badly by Mr. Keating ending in his death. The guys are forced to sign a paper, agreeing that they were part of the Dead Poets Society and that Mr. Keating was the one who forced them to do it. Todd tried to explain everything, but at the end, he was forced to sign too.
The guys arrived in English class, and their teacher was now Mr. Nolan. During class, Mr. Keating appeared to pick up his stuff, this is when Todd jumped on his desk and told Mr. Keating they forced him into signing the paper. The guys join in and salute Mt. Keating, as he gives his gratitude and leaves.
What I loved most about this book is that the guys are mostly different from each other, and have their own personalities. One thing I didn't like though is that many of them where pretty much just there, like Cameron and Charlie. They both did pretty much noting to the story and I don't think they got really any character development. I know the story was not about them, but it was about the whole team and their problems, and I just wish I could've heard more about Cameron's parents, or Charlie's story.
Talking about the writting, it was great and really easy to understand. And those poems Mr. Keating would throw, or the ones read in the cave were so good!! Like Mr. Robin Williams over here has a great taste on poems. So the poem and writting part, were the best. What I would say was a problem, is that the beginning of the book was very repetitive. The guys would go to school, Mr. Keating would say something epic, a problem will rise, and then they go to the cave. It was all of this over and over again, I only kept reading because I wanted to (of course) know the end, and Mr. Keating was my inspiration! The repetitive beginning wasn't that bad, and if you read it for yourself, you might even end up liking it. But I am just very picky and wished more things could've been added instead of the everyday, same schedule thing. But at the end it was very worth it because MAN WHEN NEIL DIED MY WHOLE HEART SINKED. Learning the story of these guys and finally standing up again the teacher was so refreshing. I haven't read a story like this one in a while, about society forcing kids to do what they say without letting them dream, and a story like this always gives me more and more confidence on my own dreams.
Overall, I give this story a 4 out of 5 stars because of it's characters which I loved, but could've been used more. The theme of being forced to do something or being stopped by someone or something and trying to reach your goal (which we can all relate to in one way or another). But, the over repetitive story line that happened in the middle until the last couple of pages of the book (which I know I am complaining so much about but I just wished there could've been much more interesting things happening). You should definitely read this book because it has great poetry everywhere, some that can even inspire you. Also, the problems the characters go through makes you go into an emotional rollercoaster (like every book I read has so much emotion, WHY??) and Mr.. Keating, he is the top reason why this book is great. You read this book, and will fall in love with Mr. Keating!
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